Sur is still waiting for an answer.
Liu Wenzhu couldn't just remain silent. Initially, she'd thought the exchange of leads was an advantage for the other party. Now that the cruel truth was staring her in the face, she paused for a moment before saying, "Yes, Principal Dai wants to take over."
Soul looked at her...and then?
Liu Wenzhu: "You have to be careful of Chen Lingfeng. He's someone who wants to get something for nothing."
Sur had an impression of this player, and he wanted to make things difficult for himself the next day.
Liu Wenzhu continued, "He was knocked unconscious in the archives room. He learned a lesson, but he must have been resentful."
Just to start a discussion, Su Er thought that the following part was the truly useful clue, but Liu Wenzhu didn't say anything after he finished speaking.
No one spoke, and the atmosphere instantly became awkward. Finally, Ji Heng came to the rescue: "If you're any later, there won't be any food in the cafeteria."
Everyone seemed to have just woken up from a dream, chatting casually, and quickly left the "place of trouble".
Ji Heng was the last one to leave. Before leaving, he handed the file he brought out to Su Er: "Take a look."
After thinking about it, Suer decided to go back to his dormitory. Zhang Yi coveted the things in the file bag and followed him shamelessly.
After years of studying reading comprehension, Su Er had already mastered the skill of reading ten lines at a glance, and he quickly figured out something: "The salaries of the dormitory managers and cleaning staff have been reduced by nearly a third. If Principal Dai can bribe them, it won't be difficult to get them to defect."
Zhang Yi: "It's a good thing that there's infighting in the reform camp."
Su Er nodded, agreeing with this statement.
While talking about business, Zhang Yi suddenly changed the subject: "What are your plans for the afternoon? Take me with you?"
Now the clues at hand are richer, and occasionally wandering around may bring unexpected gains.
"My fighting power isn't high," Su Er said without looking up from the paper he was flipping through. "If you want to win easily, Ji Heng is the best choice."
He was telling the truth, because it was not uncommon for people to get into trouble by being too pretentious.
"To be honest, I always thought Ji Heng was the child of destiny."
Su Er raised his head, a hint of interest in his eyes: "Oh?"
Zhang Yi nodded heavily. "Some of his experiences in the game are legendary. I heard that he can bring out items eight out of ten times."
After a brief moment of envy, he stared at Su Er again: "But now I realize that you are... You are the eldest son of destiny, and he is at most a bastard's son. There is a difference between legitimate and bastard children."
"Really?"
"certainly."
After answering in seconds, he realized something was wrong. The question seemed to come from behind him. Zhang Yi turned around stiffly and was caught off guard when he met Ji Heng's eyes. He laughed dryly twice: "How did you finish eating so quickly?"
Ji Heng came over, and Zhang Yi reflexively rubbed the ground with his feet to push the stool back.
Ji Heng naturally wouldn't care about a joke and walked right past him and stood in front of Su Er, who had a blood-stained earring in his hand.
Su Er: "I found it in the crack of the bathroom. I can exchange it for a character A from the cleaner."
Although it is not enough to become key evidence, once the matter becomes a big deal, the murderer will definitely not be able to withstand close scrutiny.
Thinking of this, Su Er smiled and said, "I asked around. A few days ago, one of the cleaners fell ill, and the remaining two haven't been in good spirits recently."
Ji Heng: "Normal."
A dead person appeared alive right under their noses, but they didn't dare to investigate further.
Su Er wrapped the earrings and gave them to Zhang Yi: "The cleaner who was killed was also a ruthless character. He could have taken revenge, but he just hung around in front of the murderer."
If this goes on, won't he suffer a mental breakdown?
Zhang Yi couldn't believe it: "I'll keep it?"
Su Er: "Go and negotiate with the janitor and get the A-level evaluations that belong to the three of us. And by the way, do me a favor and spread the word on campus that Principal Chen killed the janitor."
Zhang Yi: "Ah?"
Su Er: "This is an agreement I made with the dorm manager."
But at that time he thought that the dormitory manager was loyal to Principal Chen and regarded Principal Feng as his biggest enemy, but unexpectedly he played both sides.
Zhang Yi gave him a deep look, unable to guess how many other people Su Er had illicit dealings with. "Think carefully, the news of the cleaner falling from the building has been suppressed. Once it gets out, it will definitely cause a big uproar."
Su Er nodded: "The more chaotic the better."
Ji Heng saw that Su Er still wanted to send Zhang Yi away. As expected, as soon as he left, he took out his name tag and placed it on the table: "The cleaning lady once told me that Si Qinmingjiao is a child with great potential."
This sentence left him puzzled.
Ji Heng glanced at the badge and said after a few seconds: "You're making it too complicated."
Soul frowned.
Ji Heng smiled: "Is the cleaner smart?"
Sur shook his head. Whether in life or after death, the cleaner could not be considered wise, otherwise he would not have been killed by his colleagues and had monsters spawned by him endlessly.
"Then take it literally," Ji Heng tapped the table lightly with his knuckles. "Si Qinmingjiao is very good."
In the reform camp, there is only one standard to measure whether a person is excellent or not: the "A" evaluation.
Si Qin Mingjiao is likely to have received an A rating.
Hearing this, Su Er stared at the number on his badge which had already turned gray, and remained silent. He had originally planned to use the dormitory manager to get in touch with the principal, and then get another A to complete the collection. Now it seems that it is better to slow down before the situation becomes clear.
"Sul!" Zhang Yi came running back like a gust of wind, panting, "The bus that sent the students to their internships has returned early. They said three students had an accident there, and they need replacements."
Seeing his expression, Soul knew that his nap plan was likely to be ruined.
The ending was not surprising at all. Before Zhang Yi could catch his breath, he said with a bitter face, "We are the ones who were chosen."
Su Er nodded: "Maybe it has something to do with getting the A rating."
Before Zhang Yi had the chance to denounce the shamelessness of the copy, he heard someone coming to tell them to leave quickly.
When he was going downstairs, he happened to run into Chen Lingfeng, who was holding his neck while going upstairs. He looked at Ji Heng with hatred and fear, because he had heard about the replacement intern downstairs. He said sarcastically, "I wish you a safe journey."
As they passed each other, Su Er looked at Ji Heng and asked, "Liu Wenzhu said you knocked him out in the archives room?"
Ji Heng nodded.
Su Er said seriously: "You were too gentle."
The voice was not deliberately concealed, and Chen Lingfeng obviously heard it. He turned around and glared at him.
Soul didn't take it seriously, shrugged and continued walking down.
·
The internship was in a factory, and upon entering, one could hear the rumbling of machinery. Su Er spotted several students in remedial camp uniforms, expertly manipulating the machines. This was clearly not their first time.
The teacher in charge of the internship came over, checked their student IDs, and said expressionlessly, "You must be careful and thorough in your work. The reform camp will not be responsible if anything goes wrong."
Su Er's demeanor was very gentle at this moment, and he humbly asked for advice: "What happened to those students earlier? We can learn from this and try not to cause you any trouble."
The teacher in charge felt comfortable with the last sentence and replied, "Two of them accidentally dropped the materials into the machine and were shredded, and another accidentally fell off the platform."
Zhang Yi, who was walking at the end, couldn't help but say, "How careless!"
The teacher in charge glared at him and Zhang Yi quickly covered his mouth.
"You, and you..." The teacher pointed at Ji Heng and Zhang Yi one after another and said, "You go operate the machine at the back."
Then he asked Sur to do the task of cleaning the platform alone.
Suer guessed that his job would be more dangerous because he was rated the most "A" among the three people.
Standing about three meters high, Suer held a water pipe, unsure if anyone was watching from the shadows. He could only diligently follow the instructions given by the instructor. The water's force was so strong that some metal fragments on the ground quickly flowed away along the edge. Below was a huge pool filled with stones brought in by pipes and regularly churned every ten minutes.
The protective net was tattered, barely half waist-high, and could easily slide down with a single stumble. There was a noticeable tear in one area, with dark red blood staining the mesh. Soul walked over there, leaning against the wall and looking down, vaguely catching sight of a large pool of blood, proof that the student who had performed the task before him had slipped and fallen from this spot.
As if sensing something, Sur turned his head to look.
He is the factory director.
His portrait and personal profile are printed on the bulletin board outside the door.
The factory manager was halfway up the stairs when, for some reason, he turned and left. Su Er was stunned for a moment, then abruptly turned to look the other way... It was a blind spot there, and he could only see a shadow on the wall, which stopped with the sound of footsteps and finally revealed its true form.
The man was about forty years old, with his hair neatly tied up, simple clothes, and a pair of sneakers for walking.
She glanced at the washed road surface and said, "You're working very hard." Then she squatted down and turned off the water pipe. "Come with me."
Soul: "But I haven't done my job yet..."
"It's not important." The woman interrupted him and turned around. Soul had no choice but to follow, keeping the distance between them and walking behind. To be on the safe side, he would look back from time to time to prevent any surprise attack.
After he had completely walked down the stairs and was standing on the ground, he asked, "Who are you?"
Woman: "This factory is owned by my husband."
Su Er immediately said, "Hello, Mrs. Director."
The woman nodded.
Sur used his imagination to the fullest, and imagined the situations he might face. They were nothing more than escaping death through fire and water. However, the woman led him to a small house behind the factory, which was decorated in a warm and grand manner.
"Please sit down first." The woman went to the kitchen, fried two steaks herself, and opened a bottle of red wine.
Su Er didn't refuse, shook the glass and took a sip.
The woman was very satisfied with this, and a flash of reminiscence flashed in her eyes: "I prepared this bottle of wine before my children were born. I originally wanted to open it when they came of age."
While she was reminiscing about the past, Soul pretended to wipe his mouth and spit out the wine he hadn't swallowed. Finally, he asked in a tentative tone: "Then they..."
"Dead."
Suer's eyes flickered. All the children in this world were born as triplets. From what she said, no one would survive.
"Two of them died of a strange disease shortly after birth. Fortunately, the surviving son was exceptionally talented. Everyone called him a genius," the woman's tone turned from gentle to gloomy. "But when he was almost adulthood, he was murdered by a student who had just been released from a reform camp because of a minor altercation."
"…"
The woman began to cut into the steak, some blood seeping out from the accumulated blood. "You said the waste was thrown into the trash, why did it come back to harm people?"
Suer looked at her and didn't answer.
The woman smiled and said, "Don't mind me. I mean no harm to you. I just think your eyes look a lot like my dead son's." She put a piece of steak into her mouth, chewed it slowly, and swallowed it. She said, "It's a pity that they only look a little bit alike now. But if he were dead, they would be even more similar."
He raised his glass and smiled: "Eat more."
Just as Suer was thinking about whether to clink glasses, some noises suddenly came from the factory. The woman frowned and walked out.
Su Er followed closely behind. When he heard the teacher calling his name, he said thank you for the hospitality and ran over without hesitation.
Behind him, the woman's expression was gloomy and unclear.
Returning to the team, the lifeless face of the teacher in charge now looked particularly kind.
Zhang Yi walked over to Su Er and explained the situation quietly: "There's a power outage, so today's internship ends early."
It was not until they got on the bus that Suer nudged Ji Heng with his elbow and raised his eyebrows... You did it?
Ji Heng nodded: "It's too far away. I'm afraid if something happens to you, I won't be able to rescue you in time."
"Something did happen," Su Er sighed. "First, I met with the factory director, and then had dinner with his wife. But they both seemed to want to kill me."
After saying that, he drank some water to calm himself down.
Ji Heng suddenly asked, "You cheated on both of them at the same time?"
Su Er nearly spit out a mouthful of water. He choked and coughed violently, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the person in the front seat.
Zhang Yi had heard about the ghost marriage incident a long time ago and, having been listening in, couldn't help but join in the discussion: "Tell me the truth, after failing to seduce the factory director, have you set your sights on his wife?"
"Oh--"
Soul smiled slightly and squeezed his fingers together, making the bottle make a crackling sound.
No one spoke for the rest of the journey.
The bus stopped directly outside the dormitory. The three of them sat in the last row and were the last to get off. After walking a few steps, something suddenly fell from a tree. Soul reacted in a split second and reached out to catch it.
The little girl jumped down and said unhappily, "The old woman fixed it for you."
When Suer took a look, he found that not only the doll's previously lost eye was replaced, but an extra eye was also sewn on the forehead.
The little girl couldn't bear to see him happy: "Aren't you afraid that I will destroy the things along the way?"
Su Er shook his head, indicating that he absolutely trusted her.
But I thought to myself: If you destroy one of my props, I will destroy your entire copy!
The shy smile was displeasing to the eyes. The little girl tutted, "Oh, by the way, I also saw the skeleton whose marriage you arranged. It's seeking justice from Gou Baopu."
"…"
Soul's smile suddenly fell, and the air became quiet.
A few seconds later, the suffocating silence was broken by Zhang Yi with a light cough.
Su Er forced a smile and put the doll away: "It's not what you think."
"Everyone has their own private life," Zhang Yi said with an expression that said, "I understand." He paused and said, "But it's better to be more modest."
"..." Su Er rubbed his brows and pointed at Ji Heng: "If you don't believe me, ask him. He came up with this plan out of desperation in order to pass the level."
Ji Heng's eyes were unfathomable. "I'm more curious about what you're going to use in exchange for repairing the item."
The first question you open is a fatal one!
For some reason, Suer felt that if he told the truth, the other party might be unhappy.
The little girl beside her touched her lantern and laughed so hard that her body shook with laughter: "It all started with a flesh trade."
"…"